Eclipse - Ascent
by Gamesplayers
Summary: "At noon, Vah'Ruta stopped working. By sunset, all Divine Beasts were unresponsive. Right before midnight, the Sheikah Slate went dead." Post BoTW. Link and Zelda investigate why the Divine Beasts stopped working as they deal with a century of separation and the grief of losing everything and everyone they knew. Rating may change as the chapters progress. Four chapters planned.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello and thank you for reading :)**

 **I'm offering you this fanfiction, but I am also offering it to me as a test: I have written well outside of my comfort zone by using present tenses and working quite hard on my wording.**

 **This said, I'm happy you're taking time to read it, and I hope you will enjoy Eclipse / Ascent.**

* * *

 **I**

At noon, Vah'Ruta stopped working.

By sunset, all Divine Beasts were unresponsive.

Right before midnight, the Sheikah Slate went dead.

Zelda has been loudly cursing and stating hypothesis after hypothesis as to why the mechanical marvels of Hyrule all broke down in less than a day cycle. Link has been listening attentively to everything she shouted over the last few hours, and through the night. Though he does care about the Divine Beasts turning off so suddenly, he is far more concerned about how strange and unreal it is to travel besides the Princess of Hyrule once more, like a century of grief and destruction never happened; like all their friends aren't dead; like the whole kingdom hasn't been nearly annihilated by the Calamity. Yet, he says nothing to her, and the stone mask that is his face never shows any of his concerns to his royal partner.

"There are many shrines between our actual location and the Zora's Domain. We should investigate them, see if they are still lit." Zelda nearly shouts when the sun starts rising.

Link stares at her. He is sitting by the fire, which is starting to die out.

"What?" Zelda furrows, and she tries to read his blank expression. "You're looking at me in a funny way."

He cocks his head slightly.

"Yes, you. What is it? Do you think I'm mad?"

He shakes his head dismissively.

Zelda has a brief thought about how each of Link's nods and shakes and sighs mean something different, and how much she's come to understand his body language and never forgot about it. "Then why are you looking at me like this, Link?" She leans forward, her hair falling over her shoulder. "Will you speak to me?"

He sighs softly. "Nothing, Princess."

Many would assume Link is mute, so it always comes as a surprise when he speaks. Only the Champions had heard him talk -rarely, and a century ago- and Zelda. She knows the soft alto tones in his voice and how he feels depending on how he sounds. Thus, she knows that it isn't _Nothing_. She sits on her legs, and rests her hands on her lap. She waits.

Link studies her, and he is distressed by how she is exactly the same as he remembers her from before, but with an edge of wisdom and determination she found along her hundred-year long battle against the Calamity. But still, she _looks the same_ , and he feels so very different. His heart sinks in his stomach as he realizes he is jealous of her, of how strong and unbroken she appears to be. "I hope we can restore the Divine Beasts and the Sheikah Slate quickly, that's all." He answers, lowering his head so his eyes are hidden in his bangs, ashamed of his unspeakable resentment towards the Princess.

Zelda remains silent as she observes her appointed knight. She is well-aware it is useless to try and force Link into talking more than he wishes to. So she sits still, quiet, and examines him like a scientist would, as the relic he in fact is. Zelda knows there are cracks and fissures in him, but some parts have been glued back together thanks to the few memories Link has recovered.

But what is broken can be mended. At least, Zelda believes so.

"How much do you remember, Link?" Her question catches him off guard, but not nearly as much as the affection in her voice, which leaves him with a strange impression that he should know why, sometimes, Zelda speaks to him like this, like they share some kind of intimacy.

"Only the memories you left behind." He half shrugs. "And… a few lingering impressions." His stare crosses hers, and he reads the interrogation on her face.

"Impressions?" Zelda's voice is still caring and affectionate. "Do you have an _impression_ , right now?" When they stopped at this precise location to camp for the night, Zelda had hoped it would bring memories back to Link. This campsite had witnessed the first time the Calamity and the weight of their destinies had brought them closer. She waits for his answer seemingly for another century, and her heart flutters.

Link shakes his head, lying. He gets up to kill the fire for good. Zelda watches him as he empties one bottle of water after the other on the ember. She thinks she might cry, but she already wept all the tears in her body the day Link died in her arms. She tells herself his memories will come back to him in due time, and that everything will be alright eventually. She smiles painfully, and nods. "You'll tell me when you'll get one of these impressions, won't you?"

Link nods, as he stomps on the ashes until he is certain the fire is indeed dead and won't burn unseen roots in the soft earth underneath. "When you're ready." He tells her, quietly, as he grabs his gears, preparing to resume their adventure.

Zelda gets up, wipes the dirt from her leggings and pushes her hair back behind her shoulders. "I am."

* * *

By noon, Zelda has to hold back laughter because Link's stomach keeps making agonizing noises. However, the sky is infinitely blue, and the grass has never been greener in the Lanayru region, which makes this situation a little less cringy for the starving Hero. Would the Zoras not look and sound panicked even in the distance, their Domain would take Link's breath away, even if he had grown up there and has looked at its beauty for the better of his pre-century-regeneration life. As Zelda and him reach the center of the main bridge heading to the Domain, an old greenish Zora walks hurriedly towards them. His expression is grim, and it makes Link's heart start racing to the point he is suddenly not hungry anymore.

"Are you here for the Shrine or Vah'Ruta? Both, maybe?" Muzu askes as soon as Zelda and Link are close enough to hear him. "Whatever your answer is, know that Prince Sidon went to examine Vah'Ruta earlier today and hasn't returned yet." The old Zora focuses his attention on the Hero of Hyrule. "Please, hurry to the Divine Beast. We don't want to risk losing the Prince."

"Did something happen? I mean, besides Vah'Ruta shutting down, and the shrines not responding anymore?" Zelda asks, her voice is high and regal, and the same as before the Calamity, which shatters Link's thin patience. However, he says nothing and his face is as expressionless as always. No one realizes how unnerved he is.

Muzu sighes. It's a deep expiration, heavy with anxiety and dread. "No. And that is what bothers us. In the last century, nothing has only _stopped_. When the Guardians first shut down, they reanimated with the Calamity's malice in a matter of minutes. It was the same for Vah'Ruta when Lady Mipha was…" He pauses, searches for words that will never be found. "... Defeated. But, as I said, nothing in Hyrule over the last hundred years stopped working for so long."

Zelda nods. "It is worrisome, indeed." She rubs her chin, concentrating on solving the mystery of why ancient technology is suddenly dying.

Behind the Princess of Hyrule, Link digs in the soft ground with the tip of his boot. Hands on his hips, he bites his lower lip, wondering how to phrase what he is about to say. He's nervous because he doesn't think he has the solution to this puzzle, but he thinks he has a clue. A very important one. "Have you considered Vah'Ruta might have stopped working because Mipha's spirit has been released when the Calamity was put to sleep?"

Muzu is startled to hear Link's voice. Though it is not the first time, it doesn't happen often, and for such a long sentence. Zelda looks at him from above her shoulder, and furrows. "It could make sense." She answers. "But there is only one way to find out."

* * *

Vah'Ruta is in the middle of the East Reservoir. Its gigantic elephant body is stuck in time, in the middle of a movement it never could complete before its core shut down. It's made of old tone and metal, unlit, statuesque. Its trunk is resting on the cliff that oversees the Reservoir, hundreds of feet above the ground, and is lined up directly with Zora's Domain. The hairs on the back of Link's neck stand up as he realizes the Divine Beast might have been on its way to flood the Zoras before it shut down.

"Prince Sidon is nowhere." Zelda's voice makes the Hero jump lighty. "Might he be inside Vah'Ruta?" Her face is full of concern and sorrow; an expression she has worn often when her powers wouldn't awaken, yore.

Link comes to stand beside her. He somehow likes Zelda more when she's a bit pitiful. He nods towards the entrance to Vah'Ruta. It's dark inside, but it's open and easily accessible from the cliff, where its trunk is resting.

Zelda follows his stare, and she comes to the same conclusion as he silently did. "He probably went in."

The wind rises. They stare at the Divine Beast as Zelda's hair gets tangled in the gusts of wind.

"I've never found her body."

Zelda's neck nearly snaps as she looks at Link.

He's staring at the elephant, eyes wet with tears he never shed. His expression is of someone who's holding back from breaking down. Zelda can see how tightly clenched are his jaws and fists. She tries to rest her hand on his shoulder, offering comfort, but he pushes her away and glares at her like she's an enemy, like he's about to jump on her and hurt her.

"And you're acting like nothing ever happened, like Mipha, Revali, Urbosa, and Daruk aren't dead; like I didn't die? Like a _fucking_ century of death and unspeakable misery hasn't fallen upon us?" He's screaming, tears flowing down his face freely; he's shaking from the emotions and the sobs he's been holding back for so long.

Zelda takes a step back and lowers her hand to her side. She doesn't know Link like this, and she wonders for how long he's been about to explode. She stares at her appointed knight for a while. He looks like a wild animal. He looks dangerous. Yet, she knows he will never hurt her. When he realizes Zelda is not going to return his anger, Link starts to calm down. He shows his back to her.

The wind tangles the Princess' hair more. It's cold and the sky is getting darker, the smell of rain seems to raise from the Reservoir. But nothing ever falls from the sky. "Do you want to know how she died?"

Link wipes his face dry on his sleeves as Zelda speaks. He's calm now, like the still silver water of the Reservoir. "Not now." he answers, his voice back to its normal soft tone. He adjusts the Master Sword on his back, as well as his knight's shield. "We can enter Vah'Ruta up the cliff." Link whispers as he starts making his way towards the mechanical elephant.

* * *

Vah'Ruta is not meant to be visited. It is a masterpiece of ancient forgotten technology and engineering that was created for the sole purpose of destroying Hyrule's enemies. Link remembers the inside of the beast well-enough, despite the thick darkness that now fills it. But it's harder for Zelda to find her way in the mechanical elephant, even if she's trying to follow Link and his torch inside the maze of stone and metal wonders. Despite his earlier outburst, the knight is focused and when the torch illuminates his face, it shows no remnants of any emotion.

Zelda definitely prefers him when he's screaming, crying, and human. She wonders if he was less a knight and more a man before the Calamity, before she became Link's burden on her father's orders. She remembers that, a century ago, while they were still traveling together to investigate the shrines and awaken her powers, He wasn't as stoic as he is now. He had opened up a bit to her. She thinks about the countless sleepless nights when they both couldn't sleep and had spent these hours in each other's comfortable silence, and twice, in each other's embrace. Something had bloomed between them one hundred years before, but it seems to be dead now, along with Link's memories of it.

She grabs his free hand as they walk. He is surprised, and she feels him twitch lightly against her touch. He looks at her from above his shoulder for a split second, then he's staring into the darkness behind them, searching for something that is not there.

"There are no monsters, Link. It's just easier to follow you around if I hold your hand." Zelda lies. It's harder to move together, but she wants to touch him right now and needs a reason to not look desperate. He nods lightly and starts dragging her in the Divine Beast, seemingly accepting her explanation.

Without the Sheikah Slate to guide them, it takes Link more time to find the terminal he's looking for: the one that controls Vah'Ruta. He's come to the conclusion that Sidon must be there, because he is clearly nowhere else.

"Do you realize the control terminal is in Vah'Ruta's behind?" Zelda asks, smirking. "That's an interesting design choice."

Link snickers to her comment, which surprises the Princess, and brings a smile to her face. And then she realizes she hasn't heard him laugh before, not even before the Evil came to Hyrule, and she wonders how he sounds when he does.

When they reach the control room, they're almost blinded by the light that shines through the windows. The sky is grey and luminous, and its brightness highlights the tall, massive red Zora Prince who's sitting on the floor, his back against the terminal. His Silverscale spear is beside him.

Prince Sidon is jovial and enthusiastic, normally. But today, when he sees the Hylians appearing in the control room, he looks at them with foggy golden eyes and the face of someone who has seen too much. Zelda lets go of Link's hand, and she rushes to the Zora Prince, kneels beside him. "Are you hurt?" She asks, looking for any kind of injury and finding none. Then she sets her eyes in his, and realizes he is staring through her, and shivers run down her spine. "Prince Sidon? Can you hear me?" He does not answer.

Behind, she hears Link unsheathing the Master Sword. "What are you doing?" She asks, looking above her shoulder at her knight.

Link is quick. So fast that Zelda barely understands what is happening to her as she's being roughly pushed to the side and collapses on the floor. She hears the familiar clash of metal against metal, and when she turns around, the Master Sword is planted in the ground and the Silverscale Spear's trident head is stuck in it.

Prince Sidon stands up, and pulls his spear free with one swift, skillful move. Link jerks the Master Sword free and he faces the Zora Prince.

"Don't hurt him!" Zelda screams to her knight.

Link ignores her -or seems to- as he dodges an attack from the regal Zora.

Zelda is on her feet a second later, running to the two battling men. "The Calamity is gone! This shouldn't happen!" She is yelling. "Don't hurt him, Link!"

It's too late. As Sidon leans forward to attack the Hylian knight, Link smashes his shield with all his strength against the Prince's head. The noise of metal hitting the last Zora Prince's skull resonates through the room, and into Zelda's mind. She is sure she'll never forget that sound. She is also persuaded Link has just killed Sidon when he collapses on the stone floor.

Right after, Zelda is by the Prince's side, and her hands are pulsing in gold magic as she's holding his head. He's bleeding, and would be terribly -if not fatally- injured if she wasn't there to heal him. "I told you not to hurt him!" She scolds Link through clenched teeth.

He sheathes the Master Sword. "He would have killed you in one blow."

Zelda glared at her knight, tears at the corner of her eyes. "He's the last Zora Prince! He's Mipha's brother! You can't hurt him-"

"I have sworn to protect you with my life." Is Link's flat answer. He crosses his arms over his chest. He's upset and not trying to hide it.

Weren't she busy keeping Sidon's skull together, she would have spat in Link's face.

It takes immense healing efforts and most of the Princess' energy to stabilize and heal the Zora, but she succeeds. When Sidon opens his eyes, he winces in pain first, then in confusion, and finally in shock. "Your Majesty!" He calls as he tries to sit up. However, a violent headache keeps him floored, and he raises his hand to touch his injury, and finds blood. Wide-eyed, he stares at his hand, then at Zelda. "What happened?"

"We don't know. But you were… hostile." The Princess of Hyrule is sitting on her legs, with her hands on her lap, beside him. "Link had to neutralize you, then I healed you. You are still bleeding, and it might leave a small scar, but you'll live."

* * *

"So, there is no reason why Vah'Ruta has stopped working." Zelda states.

"I didn't find any." Sidon shrugs lightly.

They're on the cliff, they've left Vah'Ruta. The mechanical beast is still unmoving, apparently stuck in the middle of a movement forever. Link is walking ahead of Zelda and Sidon. He hasn't talked since the Zora has woken, and has ignored the Princess' addresses to him.

Zelda's eyes are on his silhouette as she walks with the Zora Prince. "Why did you come here to begin with?"

Sidon seems to hesitate, but decides to answer after a moment of thinking. "When Vah'Ruta turned off, I wondered if it was related to my sister."

"Was it?"

"I don't know. But her spirit has departed from the Divine Beast."

"How would you know that?" Zelda stops walking and faces the Prince.

Sidon rests a hand on his hip, as he looks over at the mechanical elephant. "I… saw her leave." He motions vaguely with his free hand. "There were lingering memories of hers, I think, in Vah'Ruta. It was a strange event that happened, really, it felt like I was in a dream. No, a nightmare. Then, before I knew it I was-"

"Possessed? By Mipha?" The Princess' is incredulous.

"Not possessed." Sidon shakes his head. "But I-I saw…" He suddenly seems tired, like the weight of the World just fell upon him. "It was like the Waterblight was there all over again, and I had a chance to save her. That must have been when I… attacked you." He lowers his head. "I apologize."

"No offense taken, Prince Sidon." Zelda forces a reassuring smile on her lips. "Did you see how she… was defeated?"

"No. And I'm glad I didn't see it. But we all know how it happened anyway." Sidon states, as he resumes walking towards the Domain.

* * *

Link is cooking mushroom skewers on the campfire, while humming softly. Zelda watches him, as she lay on her side on the floor mat. Her boots are beside her, and her feet are a little too close to the fire. But the heat is comforting, and with Link ignoring her, she needs all the environmental comfort she can find. After returning Sidon safely to the Zora's Domain, they've returned to the road, heading towards Kakariko where they'll ask Impa and Purah about the dying Sheikah technology. Meanwhile, they're camping for the night, and Link's silence is unbearable.

"She was in the terminal room when the Waterblight appeared." Zelda says softly. She can see Link's whole body stiffens as he keeps cooking. He doesn't want to hear it now, but he needs to. Or at least, Zelda needs to tell him. "She fought fiercely, and it has been said that the battle could be heard in the Zora's Domain. However, the soldiers couldn't get to her before it was too late. They arrived just in time to see her frozen body being shattered by the Fiend." The smell of burnt mushrooms raised from the skillet. "You did not find her body because there is no body to find."

Link removes the burnt skewers from the fire and puts them down into a plate. "I loved her." He says, quietly. His face is hidden behind his bangs.

"I know." Zelda answers, as her heart shatters under the setting sun.


	2. Chapter 2

**II**

Visiting the Sheikahs at Kakariko Village is frustrating. Even the inventors of Hyrule's ancient technology cannot begin to fathom why it all broke down suddenly. Despite the aggravation of the situation by global cluelessness, Zelda welcomes the promised comfort of a soft bed with open arms and a warm smile when Impa offers Link and her shelter for the night. Only a couple of minutes later, she sits on her assigned bed and grins at the perspective of a warm night on a fluffy mattress when she feels the scorching stare of her knight on her. She sighs, as she knows without looking that Link is sitting on his own soft bed, terrorized at the prospect of spending a night in the same room as _his_ Princess. Their relationship has not evolved since they left the Zora's Domain. He barely speaks to her, and it feels like they are back at that time when Link's eerily quiet presence creeped out and angered Zelda, a century ago. She stares back, irritated. "What is it?"

"We shouldn't share a room." Link states as if the mere thought of it was an atrocity in itself.

It feels like a slap to her face, but she is not sure whether it is because that is the longest sentence he has spoken in two weeks, or because of how absurd this statement is. "We've done this before." Zelda answers flatly.

Link furrows, searches his memory but finds nothing. And by the look he gives her, she understands it is not his fault he is pushing her away. He just can't remember.

She softens. "You have no memories of us, do you?" Zelda stares at her feet. She plays with a strand of golden hair. In her mind, it's an eternal agony to spend all her time with him but be treated as a stranger -or a fragile possession that needs protection at all cost. Whatever it is, it stings.

"Us?" The word rolls off Link's tongue like it is made of thin porcelain and he is scared to break it.

A sad smile adorns the Princess' lips. "We were more than knight and Princess, more than bound by destiny only. We were a lot more." Sorrow makes her regal voice quivers. "My powers woke because of you, of _us_. I was ready to give my life for yours when the Guardian attacked you."

"I would give my life for you anyday-"

Zelda sets her forest eyes into Link's ocean's. "Because you swore an oath to protect me." She gets up and pushes her hair behind her shoulders. "I'm going out for a walk. Don't follow me."

* * *

Link is sitting on the rooftop of Impa's house, legs dangling off the ledge. He observes the dark Taloh Naeg shrine, wonders if it will ever be lit again, or if every piece of technology is gone forever. Given that the Sheikahs themselves cannot figure out what happened to the Beasts, shrines and the Sheikah Slate, Link doubts any of these will ever function again. And he is somewhat happy about it because it means his days as the Hero of Hyrule may be over.

Which also makes him panic. What is he if he is not the Hero of Hyrule anymore? He is Zelda's own appointed knight. Yes, but does he even have an identity of his own? With no memories of before besides those the Princess left behind, no one to remember who he was -is- besides Zelda, his silent frustration and agonizing distress keeps him awake most night. Often he wants to question Zelda about their life before the Calamity but he doesn't have the strength yet to bear what she may tell him. His body and mind remembers the indescribable pain of losing everything and everyone, but Link feels like it could get worse if he learns about what really happened before he died. He is certain he cannot bear the burden of remembering. And he knows this because of Mipha. It's been two weeks since Zelda explained to him -with details he can only describe as _sadistic_ \- how she was torn to shreds when the Waterblight found her. He wasn't there to see it, yet the scene plays in his mind over and over. And it is strange he is so affected by the Zora princess, because he only knows he has been around her while growing up, often for weeks or months at a time, as he followed his father in his adventures. He knows Mipha had a severe crush on him, and though he did love her and still does, that affection for the Zora was not of the same kind as hers for him. Mipha was family; she was like a dear cousin you spend your summers with. And this is something Link is sure he should tell Zelda. But then again, maybe she already knows. They have been close, before.

This idea makes him blush a bit. Link has always been attracted to the Princess of Hyrule, but never believed she could return his interest. He feels a bit weirded out at the prospect of getting closer -again- because he is still jealous of Zelda. He knows that is what makes him stiff and quiet around her. He absolutely hates how she manages to look happy and cheerful; he despises her smile. And this anger he has inside when he is around her, combined by his alien need to grow _closer_ is tearing him apart. How can you love and hate one person so much at the same time? Link often tries to rationalize his feelings, to remind himself she had a century to get over the Kingdom's destruction and everyone's death, but it doesn't make him feel any less envious and irritated around her. He is even glad she is gone for a walk, alone. He knows it's a risk: she may get trapped by Yigas or some lingering monsters, true. However, Link has seen her powers, and if Zelda can seal the Calamity, she can take care of a few foes once in a while.

* * *

When Zelda returns to their bedroom, she finds Link sleeping, his back to her side of the room. She watches him a moment, before sitting on her soft bed. She takes off her boots first; the rest of her clothing follows after. Her walk did not ease her mind, and she even is upset with herself for not confronting Link instead of leaving. Zelda hoped he would still be awake when she returned, but he wasn't. She wanted to talk, clear that thick fog of awkward angst that sits between them. She sighs and decides she will tell him what's on her mind anyway. Maybe he can hear her in his sleep. "I know you hate me." She whispers to Link's sleeping body. "And I know why you do, and I want you to know that I understand, Link. I just hope you can find the will to forgive me as time heals your wounds."

Zelda rests her hands on her lap for a split second, trying to compose herself, but what she's about to say makes her nervous, and she starts playing with a strand of her golden hair. "When the Calamity awoke and ripped the Castle to pieces, Father was right in the Beast's trajectory." Her voice quivers with emotions. "The first casualty of Ganon's awakening was the only family I had left. Until I reached the Castle, I hoped I would find him alive, maybe captured or injured, but alive. I was met with utter shock and unmeasurable pain when I found what remained of him. The Calamity wanted the King unrecognizable." The weight of the world is on her shoulders right now. She feels buried underneath it; crushed to pieces. Yet, she doesn't cry. She's cried enough over the last century; tears do not come to her eyes anymore. "Yes, Link, I understand how you feel. And maybe will you understand how I feel in a century." She stays still a moment, then slides under her blanket, and wrestles with the bed to find a comfortable position. "Good night."

Link stares at the wall. When he thinks Zelda is sleeping, he finally exhales and it feels like he's been holding his breath for an hour. His typical night anxiety is keeping him awake, and though he was aware the Princess would come to bed eventually, he hadn't planned she would speak to him, confess her pain. He is ashamed now, guilty of his jealousy, which he feels dying quickly. Link realizes he cannot fathom what it must have been like for Zelda to find her father's remains during the war. Yet, she decided to fight Evil for one hundred years, _alone_. If Zelda is not the definition of impressive, he doesn't know what is. He turns around so he can look at her as she sleeps. She looks calm and serene. Under the moonlight, with her hair spread around her head like a crown of platinum gold, Zelda looks like a Goddess. Link drinks in the sight of her, and is quickly overwhelmed by her beauty. He doesn't sleep that night.

* * *

The Princess of Hyrule talks often, if not always. She speaks to Link, to her horse, to the people they meet, to the Goddess, or to herself. Zelda always fills the silence. She speaks with a regal accent no one else carries in the kingdom, her voice is high and solemn, and reminds Link of a bell. Yet, this morning, Zelda is quiet. And this silence is making Link's skin itch. The knight's nerves are so tense he considers punching a Moblin in the face. Instead, he concentrates on the distant figure of Vah'Medoh, proudly resting at the top of Rito Village.

It gets to a point where _he_ decides to break the silence. "Is everything alright?"

Zelda is startled by his voice. She looks at him with wide eyes. "Yes. Why? Do I seem distressed?"

"You look fantastic." Link is stiff on his horse, awkward.

"Then why did you ask if I was alright?" Zelda's white horse comes to a stop and neigh in annoyance. The Princess pets its mane to calm the animal. "You never ask if I'm alright." She states as she returns her attention to her knight. Her hair falls over her shoulder and around her face like curtains of golden silk.

Link is unsure what to answer. He did not plan this conversation to go so far. "You were being quiet."

Zelda furrows. "And?"

"You're never quiet." Link half-shrugs and his horse stops to graze. "I was a bit worried."

The Princess stares at him for a moment. Then, a smile creeps on her lips as she giggles. "My silence worries you?"

He nods.

Zelda's smile grows larger. "And I find myself distressed when you start a conversation."

Link chuckles. Zelda's heart flutters. They hold each other's gaze for a moment, and the morning air seems to become lighter and warmer around them.

Until the Princess' eyes grow wider and her smile fades. She stares above Link's shoulder in terror. Feeling dread, the Hero turns on his saddle to follow Zelda's gaze, his sword hand is halfway to reaching the Master Sword's grip when he freezes. The blood drains from Link's face as he watches, hours away, the fall of Divine Beast Vah'Medoh.

* * *

They stand on the side of what remains of the bridge leading to Rito Village. An immense stone wing is standing in the way, between them and the bird people's home. Link and Zelda cannot see the carnage on the other side, but they can hear the muffled cries and screams; the calls for help and the distress in the survivors' voices.

"We have to get across! We have to help them!" Zelda shouts.

Link is still, he stares at the dead Rito at his feet. A boulder crushed him. Probably when Vah'Medoh fell, broke on the village's natural stone tower, shattering it at the same time. Link cannot move. He swears he is as dead as the birdman.

"Link! Use Revali's gale to carry us on the other side!" Zelda shakes him by the shoulder. "We have to help them!" It feels like she's talking to a statue. Link is frozen in time and space, staring down at the dead Rito. But after a particularly vigorous shake, the Hero turns to his Princess and nods.

"Hold on to me tightly." Link commands as he prepares his paraglider.

Zelda doesn't need to be told twice. She hugs Link with all her strength, digs her fingers in his tunic and into his mail underneath to the point her fingernails feel like they might rip off. She knows she needs to hold on to him with all she's got, or it might mean falling to her death. Face flush against his chest, she anxiously waits for the gale to propel them up in the sky. When it finally happens, the strain on her arms is violent and Zelda has no choice but to wrap her legs tightly around Link's, otherwise she knows she'd fall.

 _We must be a peculiar sight_ , she thinks as she tries to visualize their shapeless, heavy figure flying up above Vah'Medoh's carcass.

From up there, the destruction brought by the Divine Beast is so vast Zelda feels she might let herself fall to her death instead of facing this disaster. Vah'Medoh itself is broken, its pieces are scattered all around Rito Village, and beyond. If the technology is ever brought back to life, this Beast will remain dead. However, the stone and metal bird's loss is nothing compared to the devastation it brought down upon the people it was meant to protect. Dead Ritos lay everywhere, most half crushed under boulders; some survivors sit by their deads, crying in grief; others try to help but can't. Zelda tastes bile in her mouth. Can _they_ really help, Zelda asks herself. Yes, she can heal the injured Ritos to a certain point, and Link can offer first aid. But this is a tragedy nothing can and will heal, not even time. It will forever be known as the day Vah'Medoh fell from the sky and brought death and destruction on the Ritos. They land on Revali's Landing, which is surprisingly intact despite the debris covering a good part of it. There's no one to welcome them officially, or praise them for coming to help. Their presence would be totally ignored, if it weren't for little Tulin, covered in dust and cuts, sitting on a bigger stone. The son of Teba looks at the Hero of Hyrule and the Princess with the eyes of a child who's innocence has brutally been ripped away from him. Zelda is quick to reach the small Rito, and crouches to be eye-level with him. "Do you need help? Show me your injuries." Her voice quivers with duty and pain at the sight of Tulin's broken wing.

"Where're your parents?" Link asks, voice failing to be soft and monotonous for once.

Tulin shrugs lightly. "Dad is helping. I think he's down by the Goddess' shrine." He's greyer than white because of the dust.

"And your mom?"

Tulin shakes his head lightly.

Link's stomach becomes full of acid. "I'm sorry." He spins around, incapable of taking in the distress of the poor Rito child, and walks away quickly, almost runs.

"Where are you going?" Zelda screams at her knight, as her hands are busy healing Tulin's twisted wing.

Of course, Link doesn't answer. But instinctively, she knows he's off helping in any way he can. She refocuses her attention on the bird child, and smiles as softly as she can, but her expression is more shocked and pained than it is soothing. But Tulin doesn't seem to care.

* * *

Teba is dirty with dust, mud, blood -his and others-. His feathers are ruffled. He looks worse than most surviving Ritos because he's been working day and night since Vah'Medoh's fall to save as many of his people as he can. It has taken Link everything to pull him out of the debris, not because he was stuck or injured, but because he wouldn't stop working. The only way Link was able to make him stop was to help the Rito Champion finish the work, which made the Hero of Hyrule just as dirty and bloody as Teba. In the middle of the night, they now sit by a large fire near the Goddess' statue with most survivors of the catastrophe. In silence, they sip some hastily prepared pottage one of the women cooked for the workers. The Champion and Hero haven't talked much since they've joined their strength, but Link feels his throat burn from breathing in so much stone dust, and because he hasn't voiced his condolences to Teba yet. "I'm sorry…" He finally mutters, so low he thinks the bird might not have heard him.

Teba side-looks at the Hero. He has heard him well. He nods slightly, accepting the Hylian's words.

"Tulin will be alright." Link's voice is soft, yet hoarse from inhaling so much dust and from fatigue. "Zelda has been healing him. She can probably help you if you find her."

"I'm perfectly fine." Teba answers dryly. "Thank your Princess for me for taking care of Tulin."

Link stiffens. "She's _our_ Princess."

Both men look at each other. The drama and fatigue have made them both aggressive and irritable. Electricity seems to fill the distance between them.

"If she were _my_ Princess, then her knights would be here to help us." Teba states. "Where are they? Does she even have an army?" He snorts.

"When she claims her throne-"

Teba interrupts Link. "You're all that remains of the empire that was once Hyrule. You and her. So yeah, I think she's _your_ Princess, but certainly not mine."

The changes in Link's expressions are subtle, but his anger is clear and burning in his eyes. It's as bright as the fire. "The Calamity is gone but it's only been a few weeks. She didn't have enough time to rebuild the kingdom yet."

Teba snorts again. "What kingdom?" He gets up. "Hyrule is dead. And the only people who don't know that must be her and you. The Hylian population is the lowest in the entire territory. The other species dominate, and we're not gonna recognize a ruler without an army or anything to offer. At least, the Ritos won't."

Link gets up too. "You know this could mean war between us when Zelda takes her throne, don't you?"

"War? Do you really wanna talk about war now?" The Rito Champion is huge compared to Link, and his anger makes him seem even bigger. "Leave. You're not welcomed here anymore. Go back to your ruins and daydreams."

Link stands his ground for a moment, staring at Teba. No one around them breathes. Then Link lowers his gaze in shame. He picks up his belongings, and leaves the Rito Village.

* * *

Outside the village, Zelda has set a camp for Link and her. She's worried because the sun is not so far from rising, and her knight hasn't shown up yet. Sitting by the campfire, she stares at the orange flames absently. Sometime later, Link appears out of the darkness and startles her. Dirty and disheveled, the Hero makes his way to the Princess.

"What happened?" She asks as a ball of stress fills her stomach.

It has never been this easy to make Link talk. But now, the words spill out of him like never, and Zelda is baffled by it more than she is by his tale of what Theba thinks and says. But Link's emotions gets to her quickly and they sink into her like an iron ball in water. She tastes bile in her mouth for the second time that day as she becomes nauseous. Not because the Ritos -Theba- are right, which they are. She feels terrible because Link _cannot_ see how doomed Hyrule still is despite the slaying of the Calamity. The truth is Hyrule has no army; barely any Hylians are still alive; and Zelda is the heir to a kingdom of Nothing and Ruins.

She smiles sadly and interrupts him. "Link… The Ritos are right."

Link's neck almost snaps as he stares, confused, at her. "No?"

Zelda nods, sighing. "Yes Link. Your amnesia and sense of duty eclipse the reality of what Hyrule is now. You see it like it was a century ago. But it has changed. There are only a handful of Hylians left, and very few of them know how to fight. The Calamity killed all of our army, and no one rebuilt it in a hundred years. The other populations became sovereign when my father died and I disappeared to hold back Ganon from destroying what remained of this land. So yes, they are right when they say I am the heir to a throne of nothing." Her voice breaks on the last words. "There is no crown to claim, for there is no kingdom left. And I am sorry, Link, if you now think you've risked your life for naught." She doesn't dare to look up at him. She's afraid to find anger and hatred in his eyes; afraid this is what will push him away from her for good.

Link kneels down in front of her. "Look at me." His voice is soft but commanding.

"I can't."

He gently rests his finger under her chin, and forces her to look up. When their eyes meet, Zelda is surprised to only find care and comfort in her knight's stare.

"If you want to rebuild Hyrule, I will be your hands. But if you decide not to, I won't ask you to. I'll always be there, by your side, whatever your decisions will be. And you are not nothing. I died for you once, I would die for you again right here and now if need be."

 _Because it's your duty._ Zelda thinks as she pushes Link's hand away. "I know you would, but your courage and recklessness cannot fix Hyrule. Neither can your death." She crosses her hands on her lap. "Nothing can fix Hyrule."

"So you're just giving up?"

She is still for a long while, almost like she has been turned into a statue. When she speaks, the sun has started to rise. "I don't know what I'm doing. I hoped I would find out after the Calamity would be gone. But I am just as clueless as I was before. For now, I am just a wandering Hylian girl."

Link sits down besides her. He stares at the sky, and Zelda follows his gaze. In silence, they watch as the sun rises and shines on the remnants of Vah'Medoh and the Rito tribe. They don't speak as they leave Tabantha.

* * *

 **I hope you liked this chapter :)**

 **Thank y'all so much for the reviews, they're the fuel that keeps me going! (And adjusting the story according to your feedback, when it applies)**


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